The Life She Left Behind
by SuperNeos2
Summary: On the day Jo left North Carolina to move to L.A., she left behind those important to her and makes a promise to return as soon as she can. R


Disclaimer: Don't own Big Time Rush

AN: **I wrote this just because all of the angst and horror in my other stories were getting to me and I needed to write something somewhat fluffy. I'm not sure if you'll like it, but I sure hope you do. **

**Hope you enjoy and have a nice day**

The Life She Left Behind

She stood at the door of the airport, her flight just about ready to part. Her bags rested at her feet, her eyes downcast to the small figure in the stroller. She so desperately wanted to pick her up and walk away from the door behind her. Nothing would please her more than to walk back out the way that she came in, the little girl tucked safely between her arms and continue where she wanted to. The small girl looked back up to her, her small arms reaching up and her mouth spilling out some saliva; gibberish being spouted from behind the drool. She went right away to wipe her thumb across her chin, the drool shining on her finger.

Tears welded up in her eyes, "I don't wanna go." She looked over to the side of the stroller, staring at the man beside it, whom was looking back at her with sadness in his eyes. She looked peeved about that. What the heck did he have to be sad about? He wasn't leaving behind the most important person in his life, unlike her. She wrapped her much bigger arms around the smaller girl, burying her head into the baby's shoulder. "I don't want to leave her!"

"Sweetie, you need this." The man, her father, told her, reaching downward from his spot with his arm to put an arm on his daughter's shoulder. "You need a break from what's happened here to you over these past few years." He somewhat darkened at the reminder of what he was thinking about, but shrugged it off as best he could for the sake of his daughter.

She shook her head. "No! I don't care! I don't wanna leave Elena alone!" she rubbed her index finger across the baby's cheek, whom was laughing and giggling in excitement. "See? She doesn't want me to leave either."

"Jo-"

"No! I don't wanna leave her." Jo kept on crying, not caring in the slightest bit at the scene in which she was causing in front of the large crowd. People were looking at her funny, some were just ignoring her, and others were giving her looks of pity, seemingly knowing what she was going through.

"She won't be." Her father once again tried to calm his daughter's anxiety, not liking it when he saw her this upset and stressed out. After what she went through because of _**him**_, she deserved to get out there and start her life over again without any type of burden on her chest. This baby wasn't a burden, not liking his choice of words about her, but a distraction to his daughter's future. Jo would only make choices that concerned her, and not herself; which wasn't good considering that she was only sixteen. "Your mother will be here for her."

Jo's mother nodded at her husband, reaching down to place her hand on Jo's other shoulder. She fully supported this decision to have her daughter start a new life in a new city. After what _**he**_ did, which made her sick every time it crossed her mind, Jo wasn't able to continue her normal life here in North Carolina. No one would listen to the full story, only going by what the bastard said, seeing him as the victim and not Jo. She tried to however, not wanting to leave the baby that was sitting in the stroller laughing and giggling despite what was happening, and while she was proud of her daughter for trying; it just didn't work out. Things never always did.

"I'll raise her right."

"I don't want you to." Jo sniffed back some of the tears, but not much, she still looked like a faucet that had water escaping endlessly with the handles broken. "I want to raise her. Me." She moved her lips to the baby's forehead and placed a chaste kiss on it. "Her mom."

"We know you do, honey." Her mother bent over to wrap her daughter in a strong comforting hug. "But you need to start over. You're still too young to have a baby to worry about."

"Your mom is right." Her dad nodded alongside his wife. "This is good. Don't think of it as bad."

"Stop tag-teaming on me!" Jo's tone made it clear that her parents' attacking her desire to stay with her daughter was annoying her. Why couldn't they just let her stay? She didn't want to leave and start over her life just because of one jerk. She didn't even care if people thought low of her now because of him. She wanted to stay here in her hometown. Her daughter was here, not in L.A, which is where she was being forced to go to. Apparently, it was a great place to start over with yourself; which is what her family wanted of her. They've been telling her since her daughter was born five months ago that she needed to get a new start to her life, and she's done her best to try and prolong it. But now that the time was here, she didn't want to go, not that she did in the first place.

She looked over to the third and final person with her, who hadn't said a word since Jo started making her scene here in the airport. She glared at him as he stood behind the stroller, his hands on the handles. "Back me up here!"

He sighed at her, "I want to, I really do, but they're right."

Jo gasped at him, "You were arguing alongside me since this," she waved her arms around. "All started. Why did you change your mind all of a sudden?" she looked betrayed, really hurt by the sudden betrayal. Now it was three against one in her mind.

"'Cause I sat down last night and thought about it. About…everything." His breathing raised as his anger did, wanting to go over to the bastard's house and rip him a new one for this. "What he did was no doubt wrong and it's not fair to you that you have to do this. I don't want you to leave either, but it can't be about me, and not even about her," he looked to the baby. "But it has to be about you. What the best choice for you."

"I want to be here with my daughter,"

"That's honorable, but it's not the right choice. Sometimes it's not about what you want or what needs to be done. Sometimes it's just about doing what's right, even if you don't like it." He explained to her, his words stinging Jo's heart. He was referring to what she always told him as kids. It's not about what's needed or wanted, just about what's right. It's what she told him when he wanted to kill the bastard who hurt her in so many ways. It wasn't needed and wanting it would only make him all the more likely to do something stupid about it. She was touched by his desire to make him pay, but she needed his comfort more. It is what best friends did afterall.

Jo looked back to her daughter. "I'll do anything to stay with her."

"But are you willing to deal with all of that hate people will give you for it? You might be, but it'll get tiring after a while and you know it. Just go and start over, make a name for yourself and when things calm down here, you can easily come back; but this time you'll be famous." He smirked at her. "And then we can rub it in all their faces. Doesn't that sound fun? He'll regret hurting you then."

Jo smiled a little, rubbing her eyes. "That does sound like fun. But I don't wanna wait too long to be with my baby."

"We can FaceTime whenever you want and I'll put her on right away." He said.

"It's not the same, Frankie, and you know it."

"It's better than nothing, though. Staying here isn't an option right now, not with his ass still around." He reminded her, causing her to worry suddenly.

"What if he tries to take her while I'm away!?" she panicked at the thought of him coming while she was gone and taking her baby away from her. She wouldn't be able to stop him if he did.

"He wasn't there for her birth, he wasn't there when she first started smiling, and he wasn't there when you struggled every night to get her to sleep. Why would he come now?" Frankie sounded sarcastic for a second, like if this man they kept talking about would come anyway. He did sound like he would do that sort of thing to them.

"Because he's that much of a prick." Jo spat.

"I swear if he knocks on the door, I'll beat him into a coma." He looked to Mr. Taylor with a grin. "Or Mr. Taylor can give me the key to his-,"

"Not gonna happen."

"Alright then," Frankie laughed uneasily, his glee at a chance to shoot the guy dying down fast. "Never mind then. Beating him sounds fine…even if I won't be able to do much."

"You're more of a father to my little girl then her own dad is." Jo was grateful for everything her best friend's done for her over these hard few years. She knew she made the right choice back in kindergarten when she had to choose between going to hang with the crowd or the kid by himself. He's supported her through everything that she went through. She would never be able to repay him for being there for her daughter when her blood dad up and abandoned them all.

"Well that's kinda what the job of being a best friend is," he laughed at her. "Plus it doesn't hurt that I'm really good with kids." He puffed his chest in pride. The Taylor family all looked away on that one, which he didn't miss. "What?"

"Babysitting job…fourth grade…enough said." Jo reminded him, getting a few laughs out of her parents and a frown from her best friend.

"One time and no one lets it go." He whined. He looked to Jo. "And stop trying to distract us. We're not talking about me, we're talking about you." He pointed his finger at her accusingly.

Jo blushed in embarrassment at getting caught. She looked from her best friend to her little girl. "I still don't like leaving her without any of her parents around."

"I'm here, sweetie, and Frankie's here too to help." Her mother reminded her. "Go off and become famous. But remember, I only ask of one thing from you. What is it?"

Jo rolled her eyes, "Career first and boys later…if I wanna date after what happened."

"And my rule?" Frankie smirked.

Jo laughed. "If I date, you have to approve of him first, because you can apparently pick out who's a jackass and who's not."

Frankie softened his gaze. "I was right about Danny, wasn't I?" he brought up his niece's father, the name almost making him sick to his stomach. But he had to say it, had to remind Jo about how he was right.

Jo nodded. "Yeah…you were."

"Only good thing that came out of this whole mess was her," Frankie pointed to Elena. "How can something so cute come from someone as ugly and horrible as him is beyond me."

Jo shrugged, showing she had no idea either.

"'Cause her mother is so pretty." Her father pinched Jo's cheek playfully.

Jo swatted her dad's hand away like a fly. "Daddy!"

"_Last call for Flight 629 to Los Angeles, California._"

"That's our cue," Jo's dad looked to his daughter. "We have to hurry."

"The door's right there," Jo reminded. "We don't have to rush for right now." She looked back to her daughter, who was laughing and smiling at her mother. Jo started to cry again. "Mommy doesn't want to leave you, but she has no choice. I'm not gonna be gone forever, just a little while. Until I come back, listen to Grandma and your uncle, okay?" she hugged her daughter. "Mommy loves you. She always will, please don't forget it." She kissed her daughter on the forehead one more time. "Goodbye my little princess."

"You got the tough guy crying," Jo's dad gestured to and laughed at Frankie, who was wiping his eyes.

"Fine, I'm crying, I'll admit it. I'm not afraid to."

"You better be good to my granddaughter or I'll come back and whip your ass."

"Dad/Jack." Jo and her mother sighed in unison. "He's nothing like him."

Jack smirked. "Still fun to mess with him."

"And it's still not fun to be on the receiving end of your threats, sir. Fake or not, you're scary as hell." Frankie said.

"You know I'm grateful for this, right?" he asked. "I've always liked you." He went over to give him a pat on the back, shaking his hand afterward, leaving something in it. "That's the key to the drawer." He explained, a grin starting to form its way on Frankie's face.

"Hand it over," his wife commanded, holding her palm out to take the key. Both men sighed before he handed it over to her. "You know he can get in trouble if he uses it, right?"

"I won't really pull the trigger," he shrugged with an uneasy smile on his face, lying right through his teeth. She gave him a warning look, "Fine, I would. But he deserves it."

"It's not about what's needed or wanted, it's about what's right." Jo repeated his words, having given her daughter a goodbye that satisfied her, which meant a lot of crying, hugging and kissing. "While I would love to see him dead, it's not the right thing to do."

He sighed. "I know."

Jo hugged her mother. "Please give her everything." She asked.

"I'll do my best, baby."

Jo nodded at her mom before looking to her best friend. His arms were already open, waiting to meet her halfway. She embraced him tightly. "I can't thank you enough for looking after my little girl."

He returned the pressure to her. "You don't have to thank me. She's your kid, which gives me all the reason to take care of her. It's what best friends do. You would do the same for me."

"I would." She responded in a heartbeat.

He pulled back first, knowing she was gonna hold on until the plane left. "Get over to L.A. and become the star I know you can be." He winked.

Jo smiled. "Okay." Returning to her bags, she picked them up as her dad led her over to the door to the plane. Turning one last time, she caught the eyes of her family, giving them a wave goodbye. She turned and started her walk into her new life.

Already she was missing her old one.

End of The Life She Left Behind

I try to be fluffy and I get depressing. Yeah, really weird.

As I wrote this, I came up with the idea of making a prequel, to show what exactly happened that led to this and a sequel, how Jo goes about with her life in L.A. with this twist. You want that? Or no?

I'll still do them anyway; just wanna know what you wanna see first.

Thank you for reading and remember to review, favorite and alert so you know which I do first.

Have a nice day.

Next Time: Prequel or Sequel


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